Vulcan Park
is home to the world's largest cast iron statue and features spectacular
panoramic views of Birmingham. Located atop Red Mountain, Vulcan
Park tells the story of Birmingham's past, present and promise
for the future.

Vulcan, the
Roman god of fire and forge, was originally built in 1904 and
has stood as a symbol of Birmingham for over 100 years. A 10-acre
urban green space surrounds the 56' high statue and observation
balcony that sits upon a 124' pedestal. Visitors to Vulcan Center
find interactive exhibits and displays that give insight into
the region's history and industrial growth.

The statue was built
for display at the 1904 St. Louis Exposition and returned to Birmingham.

The statue was installed
atop a pedestal, with observation tower, at Vulcan Park, part
of a WPA-funded project in 1936-37.

Some local citizens
were dismayed with the statue's naked posterior. Some apparently
remain so. The gift shop once sold coffee mugs and t-shirts
imprinted "Buns of Iron" but removed them as a result of complaints,
we are told.

Since the backside
of the statue faced the community of Homewood, some local wags
called the statue "Moon Over Homewood."

The statue began to
display signs of decay (rust) and was disassembled, removed from
its pedestal, in late 1999. The City of Birmingham paid
for the disassembly.

One newspaper report
placed restoration cost in the range of $16 million, a figure
which includes rebuilding the surrounding park.

Workmen disassembling
the statue in October, 1999.

As part of an earlier
"fix," the lower part of the statue (from the buns down) had been
filled with concrete. Workmen had to laboriously remove
the concrete prior to removing the legs.